Having room flexibility in airbnb

[Angie47]

Hello everyone, i am having a question that i would appreciate so much if anyone could give me any input.

I have a 3 bedroom villa in Bali and i would only want to rent it out as a private rental. Now my question is that i can only make my listing open for an option of 3 bedrooms only. What if i want to make it available for those that is only looking for a 2 bedroom villa or 1 bedroom only for private ( i would lower the price and lock the other room). It seems that at the moment i can not find the options in airbnb that enables me to do that. 

I am very new to this so i hope someone can enlighten me in this matter 🙂

[Steve143]

Hello @Angie47,

You have two listings on your profile and they are both the same. Is that a mistake?

If you have 3 bedrooms and would like to be able to rent the whole apartment and also rent individual rooms separately do the following.

Keep one listing for the whole apartment saying "Entire home/apt" and showing that it has 3 bedrooms etc.

Add 3 new listings, one for each bedroom, showing photos of the room and saying that it's a private room in an apartment.

If one room is booked you will then have to block those days on the listing for the entire apartment.

If the entire apartment is booked then you'll have to block the days on all the other bedroom listings.

For this reason you should turn off instant book on all the listings so you accept bookings and manually block the other listings.

If instant book is on, then someone could book a room and someone else could book the entire apartment a few minutes later and you would have to cancel one of them. If a host cancels a booking there are strict penalties.

How do host cancellation penalties work?

[Angie47]

Hi Steve,

No, I do have a twin villa situated next to each other. The other one is my sister and we co-host together.

Yup, I would definitely make separate listings now and turn off instant booking until I managed to sync calendars.

Thank you so much Steve!

[Dede0]

@Angie47 You do this by setting up 3 separate listings (one for 1 room only, one for 2 rooms, one for all 3). Then you "sync" the calendars of all three listings so that bookings don't conflict with one another. I suggest that you search AirBnB's hep system for "sync" "sync calendar" and so on.

If you have no interest in having 2 or 3 separate guests at the same time (or if your listing's bathroom or kitchen setup can't accomodate that), then you can get by with a single listing that simply specifies a base rate (for 1-2 guests), then additional fees for each added guest.

[Angie47]

Initially, that is the only way I thought I can sort my problems, that I need to make 3 listings to make my listing available to a bigger market (those that are looking for a one bedroom, or two bedrooms, or as well a three bedrooms). But i might have to only prioritize the instant booking to those that are seeking for a three bedrooms.

But as a traveller myself, I do find those lisitngs that does not have an instant booking features unattractive since I have to wait for approval from the host while I want to finalize my travel itinerary asap.

I might have to familiarize myself with this sync calendar thing. but thank you so much for the valuable input 🙂

[Sandra126]

Yes, absolutely. You are not looking to rent out to more than one set of guests, so it would be ''entire place'' but the basic price would list for two guests, and they will get one room. Then you add ''extra guests: and the sum for the extra geusts, and give them the extra rooms. My place, for instance, sleeps 4 but the price shows for 2 guests unless you search for three or four, and then Air calculates the added amounts and I make the beds accordingly. Hope this helps. You will be booked more often!

[Angie47]

Wow! Thank you so much Sandra. I totally did not have the thoughts to list my property in that way! you are a star!

[Lisa363 · Accepted solution]

@Angie47

@Sandra126 is correct, however, you may find that you have 3 single people travelling together who expect one bedroom each for the price of 3 guests if your listing specifies 3 bedrooms.  I don't believe you can request that they book for 6 guests in order to get all 3 rooms.  You may be able to state that you have a surcharge when this situation arises but guests may find this off putting.  It's not great when you can't meet their expectations before they even book!  You would likely just have to plan to absorb the extra cost when these types of groups come through.

The only way around this - if you really want to lock off bedrooms - is to create 3 separate listings 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom.  You can even vary the number of bathrooms that they can access.  This way there will be no confusion and no capacity for misunderstanding on the part of the guest.    You will only be able to use instant book on one of the listings and will need to be diligent with your calendar updates.  

If you want to list as a 3 bedroom and have extra guest charges this is definitely the easier way to go but you should really present all 3 bedrooms for the guest - even for bookings of only one or two guests - to honour what is advertised.  If 3 people book, you may have to prepare 3 separate beds in 3 separate rooms....  

[Sandra126]

@Lisa363, @Angie47  how I solve that one is I have in my listing notes that the price is for two guests sharing QS bed, if they are two guests needing separate beds there is an added AUD 30 linen fee. If they send an enquiry saying ''my mum and I'' or ''We are two friends'' I ask if they are happy sharing or if they want an added bed made up for 30. some will, some won't. Seems to work well, sometimes I let it slide as they have said nothing until they arrive and look around saying ''Where am I supposed to sleep?'' and I reply ''Oh I am sorry, you never mentioned you needed two beds.'' Then I make one up. Guests think we understand what they need without saying anything, sometimes.

[Lisa363]

@Sandra126

On one listing site we do a choice of 2 bedrooms + 1 bathroom or 3 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms with a surcharge.  Some enquiries still get snippy that it is advertised as a 3 bedroom and want the entire place for the price of 2 but most understand the concept of trying to offer the best rate you can.  Glad this is working for you and guests are reading your text!  Valid point.

[Lisa363]

@Angie47 @Sandra126

I just saw that Dede replied to this on a duplicate post and I stand corrected.  Apparently there is a way to sync the calendars so there may be a capacity to have instant book on all 3.  I would definitely wait until you have some experience before activating that!!!  Perhaps someone else could comment on this as I have not worked with the calendars in this way.

[Angie47]

Hi Lisa, yup. I have since listed my properties as 3 listings as I have a three bedrooms villa in which I rent out as a one bedroom, two bedrooms, and three bedrooms. All listings are synced with each other and has instant book features.

The sync does take time though, in which, when I am available I sync it manually (without waiting for the scheduled sync). Otherwise, just hoping nobody else will book my other connected listings for the same date : )

[Ally9]

If two people book a place that sleeps six as an entire house, is it acceptable to lock the other two bedrooms? My place has a two person base rate then an additional charge for the third, fourth etc?

[Angie47]

I am currently going that Ally : ) and they all seem fine with it. From my experience, guests are very understanding once you communicate your condition : )

[Angie47]

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